Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Of late, I have been wondering about what is it that makes a
person respect another person. By this I don’t mean the respect every human
should have towards every living being (or maybe even non-living objects). That
is a type of a passive respect that is expected from every human.

My question about respect is directed towards the active
variety where a person respects another person for some reason which is more
than just for being alive.

We respect certain people for certain reasons. And mostly,
we don’t even realize whether or not we are offering our respect to the person
who actually deserves it. The following are some of the reasons for which we
tend to respect (or at least pretend to respect) certain people.

Age

Experience

Knowledge

Wisdom

Position

Fear

Age – This is one of the most common reasons for someone to
show respect to another person. It is almost taken for granted that someone who
has seen more years in life automatically deserves to be respected. But at
times, even older people have certain flaws which make them undeserving to receive
respect. Can a person who mistreats his or her children or other younger family
members be deserving respect ? So, age cannot be the single criterion for
respect.

Experience – This factor, though somewhat related to age, is
another reason why people are respected. People tend to learn from more
experienced persons, and hence, respect those who are more experienced. But can
mere experience make a person deserving enough to get respect ? Can a highly
experienced policeman who accepts bribes and drinks while on duty be respected
by a newly recruited policeman ?

Knowledge – Another factor which determines whether or not a
person gets respect from others. A person may be highly qualified and educated
but may still not be deserving enough to receive respect. An abusive teacher or
a selfish scientist may both be highly educated, but they cannot be respected
only because of their academic achievements.

Wisdom – This is one factor that is closest to being the
best reason for any person to be respected. It actually shows a person’s
ability to put both experience and knowledge to the best of use. But can a
person be respected who instead of using his wisdom for constructive activities
uses it for destructive purposes ? Some of our politicians are the best
examples.

Position – Or hierarchy is another common reason why some
people respect others superior to them. It is mostly, if not always, the norm
to respect the boss or senior even if he or she is the most abusive person
around. Even gross incapabilities of being a civilized human being are overlooked while giving (or pretending to
give) respect to a superior. But is such a respect really deserved ?

Fear – Finally, people tend to respect others out of fear.
It is usually money-power or muscle-power which scares people into respecting
those who possess it. It is very common to find students respecting their
seniors (who ragged them) out of fear. And don’t we see wealthy people being
given special respect in various situations ? Such type of respect is probably
the worst amongst the reasons for respecting someone.

But what people often forget is that it is the character of
an individual that enables him or her to command respect from others. A person
may not be wealthy, or highly educated, or elderly by age, or strong
physically. But it is his or her behavior with others and the power of his or
her character that truly makes a person really deserving of receiving respect
from others. A person with impeccable character and good behavior towards
others will always command respect irrespective of any other reason.

If only everyone could concentrate on these aspects before
respecting or pretending to respect others…